Ahmad Farraj and Jaber Madkhali
NAJRAN — An alleged medical error caused the death of an infant while she was being transported by the ambulance to the children’s hospital.
Own Al-Sairy, the father of the infant, said his eight-month-old daughter Aryam had breathing difficulty. “I first took her to Sharourah Public Hospital. The doctors checked her up and gave me a drop for her. I took her home but her condition kept getting worse. I took her back to the hospital by dawn and the doctor told me her heart was inflated. The doctor told me they have to wait for the cardiologist to arrive in a few hours but her condition kept getting worse,” said Al-Sairy.
He added as the doctors were preparing my daughter in her room, her heart stopped.
“They resuscitated her and the doctor requested that she gets transported to Najran immediately. The doctor confirmed that she had heart inflammation and some milk has gotten into her lung. The hospital provided an ambulance and I asked to travel with them but they refused,” said Al-Sairy.
He also said after 100 km of driving the ambulance vehicle ran out of oxygen. “They detoured to Khabbash Hospital to borrow oxygen cylinders from them but my daughter died before they were able to reach the hospital. Khabbash Public Hospital refused to take my daughter in because she was already dead and they had to drive her all the way back to Sharourah Public Hospital,” said Al-Sairy.
“The hospital just put her body into the hospital morgue and told she died of a medical error. That answer was not good enough for me. They have to pay for letting my daughter die. I have filed a complaint with Najran Municipality, Sharourah Health Affairs and Sharourah Public Hospital,” said Al-Sairy.
